[Washington Examiner] According to one officer involved in the operation and three people familiar with it, speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky originally approved of the operation. Valery Zaluzhny, then the commander in chief of the armed forces, was in charge of it.
"Shocking" to some possibly.
However, in June 2022, the Dutch intelligence agency MIVD learned of the plot and tipped off the CIA. After approaching Zelensky, he decided to call the operation off. According to those familiar with the situation, Zaluzhny ignored the order and pressed onward.
After the operation, Zelensky reportedly angrily approached Zaluzhny. The military chief shrugged it off, suggesting that he had called it off too late.
"He was told it’s like a torpedo — once you fire it at the enemy, you can’t pull it back again, it just keeps going until it goes ’boom,’" a person familiar with the conversation said.